Jiminy Vishnu Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 I knew I was going to have a problem with this movie (mainstream sci-fi fatigue) and had planned on staying away, but a chum really wanted to go and what the heck it was fun to see him. But oh boy was this hard to stomach. Traumatized, Pro-war propagandized children who control a drone army, led by a boy given all the guns to kill all the bugs. Set in the backdrop of a world without more then a few adults, reason or compassion I felt anxious watching two hours of violent and varied propaganda. Having not read the book I have many questions that may go answered there, but the most pressing is how can you have a story with a boy named Ender and not have a single fanny joke! Not even from his abusive brother or other laser tag bully's or his sorta girlfriend? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornellius Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 From what I've seen the movie looks violently propagandistic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LifeIsBrief Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 Read the book... especially the sequel "Speaker for the Dead"... It's the opposite. Fantastic series. The original was a tragedy, not an action book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Beal Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 I just finished watching it. I really don't understand the propaganda part that you are talking about. The message of the movie was that these kids' considerable intelligence and abilities, and the main character's empathy were exploited to fight a war that was never needed. The adults who wanted the war were portrayed as insane or sociopathic. The whole idea that there are real bad guys out there to do war with was directly questioned. While the fantasy violence (the laser tag, training etc) were portrayed as kind of fun and cool, the real violence (his brother, Bonzo, the war itself etc) were treated as tragedies. Thinking for himself and refusing to take orders was what made the main character a hero. The takeaway seemed to me to be to use your own empathy and intelligence for your own ends toward positive and challenging tasks. At least that's how I experienced it. I do have that bias though. I thought it was a really good movie minus the awkward relationships and the lame "mind game" part of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seleneccentric Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 I would be mildly surprised if the film were pro-war/propangandistic. The book was downright subversive — a kind of proto-Fountainhead for preteens. The kids knew that the adults were manipulating them, turning them against one another, and psychologically brutalizing them. I was particularly struck by a passage in which one of the characters notes that some areas of the space station seem to exhibit artificial gravity (an otherwise unheard-of technology — in other words, the adults are hiding important secrets from the children, and use those secrets to disguise the fundamental nature of the world. If I recall correctly, the character cited the passage to the battle room as chief among these areas. What a great metaphor. The book is probably still worth reading, as are the sequels. The series is a tragedy, as others have said. Quite different from the impression I got from the trailers and some of the reviews out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornellius Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 Oh. Well if you're the one who saw the movie then it's my views that were prejudicial. I saw some clips and I didn't think the movie spoke for freedom, it just seemed like exactly the kind of military-sociopathic propaganda flick you're used to seeing come out of hollywood's anus. I mean when you're watching Full Metal Jacket's first act, you have the constant training, the sociopathic attitude, the military music, but you know the movie is portraying a descent into insanity because the camera's eye is a sort of clinical perspective, and you can sort of see the life being squeezed out of the characters. The scenes on youtube, especially those with the kids and Harrisson Ford don't seem to communicate an ounce of psychology or human conflict. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LovePrevails Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 I loved that book when I read it almost 10 years ago now haven't got to see the flick yet but look forwards to reporting back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenJ Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 Yup, saw it last weekend. I had never read the books, but had heard about them so I was looking forward to it the moment I saw a trailer. I definitely agree with most of the other posters here. It was clearly about adults in society grinding the empathy out of gifted children and manipulating them into war. Genocide, in fact. Given the material, I think it would be a prime candidate for one of Stefan's reviews. Very enjoyable movie, overall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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